- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 800g zucchini, sliced into 1cm rounds
- 2 large (or 3 small) leeks, sliced into 1.5cm rounds
- Fine sea salt
- 400g pasta
- 1–2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (optional)
- 90g (roughly 1 cup) finely grated parmesan, plus more to serve
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Putting it all together:
Put a large pot of water on to boil.
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pot (for which you have a lid) over medium-low heat. Add the zucchini and leek to the pot, along with 1 teaspoon fine sea salt. Stir to combine, put the lid on and allow to cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally and turning the heat down if the vegetables begin to brown (you want the zucchini and leek to soften, not brown). Depending on how much liquid is in your vegetables, you may need to add a tiny splash of water to stop the veg catching (I rarely need to do this).
Once the water has boiled, add a heaped tablespoon of salt and cook the pasta al dente (i.e. don't overcook the pasta, as it'll be cooking further with the zucchini and leek mixture). Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water before draining.
Once the leek is soft and the zucchini is falling apart, turn the heat up to high and add the cooked pasta along with a splash of pasta cooking water. Mix quickly and well (adding a splash more pasta cooking water if required), then turn off the heat.
Add the white wine vinegar, followed by the parmesan and pepper. Stir to combine. Serve with extra parmesan and pepper as desired.